


As I Gently Fall

by manixzen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background Relationships, F/F, Fluff, Kissing, One Shot, Post-Hogwarts, Snow, Vacation, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manixzen/pseuds/manixzen
Summary: Ginny’s been having a disappointing year but maybe that’s about to change.
Relationships: Pansy Parkinson/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	As I Gently Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [triggerlil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/triggerlil/gifts).



> Just a little fluffy winter scene. 
> 
> Lily, I hope this brings you some joy at the end of a long semester 
> 
> J, thank you for the beta!

Ginny pulled the afghan onto her lap, the nearby fire flickering in the rough stone hearth not quite enough to cut through the chill in the cottage. Really it was more of a large house with rustic decor, but it had been one of the only rentals that would fit their group. 

She glanced out the tall windows of the two-story sitting room overlooking the snowy landscape, the slope of the mountain clear from the paths of pine trees. As she warmed up and felt her muscles relax, she had to admit the holiday had been a good idea. After a particularly rough season with the Harpies, with the team coming in dead-last, and a few too many injuries, she’d spent much of her post-season training, trying to get back into shape. According to the Team Healer, she’d been over-training and had only managed to set herself back further. Her ability to play in the upcoming season wasn’t looking good. It was shaping up to be a terrible year all-around.

“Has anyone seen my hat?” Ron asked, rummaging through a pile of coats that had been thrown haphazardly on one of the chairs by the door. 

“I can transfigure one,” Luna offered as she entered the room, decked out in a lavender floral snowsuit, ski goggles perched on her head.

“Erm—that’s alright, I’m sure it will turn up,” Ron said, looking up briefly before digging back into the pile with vigour. 

" _Accio_ Ron’s hat,” Hermione said, not looking up from her book. A moment later, the hat flew into her hand from the direction of the kitchen.

“Thanks, hon,” Ron said as he walked over to retrieve it, giving her a peck on the top of the head. “You’re sure you don’t want to come?”

Hermione smiled and put her book on her lap, finger holding her spot. “I’m sure. This is much better than going down the same hill over and over all day.”

Ginny huffed a laugh. Trust Hermione to prefer reading even on holiday. Ginny, on the other hand, would have killed to try Muggle skiing, but the Team Healer and Coach had been very clear on their thoughts about that. 

“Well, I don’t know how much skiing I’m going to do, but I’m going to use that new camera I got from George and film everyone else falling down the hill,” Ron said with a wide smile.

Hermione swatted at his arm, but Ron jumped out of the way with a laugh. 

“Think of all the entertainment we’ll have for this evening,” he said with a grin as he headed toward the door.

Blaise, Neville, and Draco joined the others near the front door, as Harry muttered to himself and ran back upstairs. Ginny stamped down the envy growing in her stomach as she watched the large group get ready to head out. Dean was helping Seamus get his ski gloves on, while Luna explained to Parvati the charms she’d woven into her hat. Ginny hated sitting around with nothing to do nearly as much as she hated being left out of fun activities. 

“You alright, Gin?” Harry asked as he reached the bottom of the steps, more winter gear in his hands. 

“Of course,” Ginny lied. 

Draco looked over at Ginny and then turned to Harry. “We could stay back. Keep her company.” 

“No, go have your fun. I want to see the pictures of you falling on your arse,” Ginny said with a laugh; it was only a little forced.

Draco gave her a flat look, as Harry turned on him sighing in exasperation.

“I told you that if you don’t want to go, we don’t have to,” Harry said.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to go!” Draco exclaimed. 

The two of them continued to bicker, and Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back to the fire. As annoying as those two were, her heart ached at the domesticity of it all—yet another area of her life that had been coming up short, unrequited crushes tending to have that effect. 

The rest of the group finished up—getting on their coats and other ski gear, occasionally asking where some lost item had gone off to, but within a few minutes, they were done and heading out. 

“Bye, Ginny. Bye, Hermione!” Luna said. “Have fun!” 

Blaise, Neville, Dean and Seamus followed her out the door, as Ron and Harry checked that their wands were tucked into their ski trousers. 

“Where’d Pansy get off to?” Draco asked, tucking his hair under the straps of his goggles. 

“She was still upstairs, last I saw,” Hermione responded, eyes back on her book.

“Come on, Draco,” Harry said at the door.

“Ah. Okay, well. Bye, then, I suppose,” Draco said to the two women, looking like he was all but heading to his execution. With a long-suffering sigh, Draco finally turned and headed for the door.

“Have so much fun, Draco,” Ginny said in a sing-song taunt. 

Hermione snorted, still not looking up from her book, and Draco flipped Ginny a finger on his way out the door. She laughed as the door clicked shut before being hit with the heavy silence that remained in the large room. 

Hermione must have sensed the shift and glanced up, gently closing her book over a finger. “You okay? I know you really wanted to try skiing. We could find something else to do, maybe walk into the village and look at the shops?”

Ginny shrugged. 

A voice came from the top of the steps. “Finally an activity that actually sounds enjoyable.”

Ginny looked up to see Pansy walking down the stairs in a black fitted sweater-dress, dark red tights and thick-heeled black boots with fur cuffs—the kind that were a bit too fashionable to actually be practical for the snow. Ginny felt her face heat as her gaze sat on the curve of the woman’s hip for a beat too long, and she pulled her focus away and back to the fireplace. 

“Come on, Weasley. Let’s go spend money on things we absolutely don’t need,” Pansy said. She headed straight toward the small coat rack that she’d claimed for her designer coats within minutes of their arrival. 

Ginny thought about spending the afternoon with Pansy—knowing it would be a constant struggle between enjoying her company and fighting off the ridiculous crush she'd managed to develop over the past year. Unlike most of her fleeting romantic interests, this one seemed to only grow with time. The better Ginny got to know her, the quicker her crush had grown into this unmanageable thing that she was quickly losing control of. She was starting to wonder at the wisdom of continuing to spend time with Pansy if it was just going to turn her into a stammering awkward mess of a human being. Plus, there was the walk to the small village. It was a little ways from their cottage, and she caught herself rubbing her knee under the afghan. 

“You should go,” Hermione said with a smile. “The walking will help, right? Isn’t that what the Healer said?”

Ginny flushed and flung the afghan off her lap. “My knee is just fine.”

Hermione pressed her lips together, nodded and went back to her book.

As Ginny stood up, her coat came flying at her face and she caught it with Quidditch reflexes. She looked up to see Pansy with a smirk on her face, and Ginny rolled her eyes. 

With a small sigh, Ginny shrugged her coat on. Fuck it. What was one more disappointment and a little pain?

She pulled the gloves out of her pocket and cast a warming charm on herself, watching as Pansy did the same, and followed her out the door. 

They fell into a comfortable pace on the path carved out of packed snow from the group traipsing back and forth to the ski resort that was just down the path. The village lay just beyond the lifts and ski lodge. 

Large snowflakes slowly drifted from the sky as they walked in silence, the snow and pine trees dampening the sound around them. It was almost eerily quiet, and Ginny found her thoughts circling all her worries quickly. As they neared the resort and started seeing skiers on their ways in or out, Ginny couldn’t quite suppress a sigh. It was bad enough that she might not be able to play come spring, but not even being able to participate in the fun with her friends just seemed cruel. The Healer’s words bounced around her head: “likely permanent,” “joints can only be healed so many times,” “might be lucky and get one more season.”

As the panic started to set in, she stepped wrong, the side of her foot landing on a divot from another person’s boot imprint. Pain lanced through her knee at the sudden movement, causing her to stumble. 

Before she could hit the ground, she felt a hand on her arm, catching her.

“Steady there,” Pansy said, her voice surprisingly soft. 

Ginny straightened up, fighting back the flush of her face. “Thanks.”

Instead of letting go, Pansy slipped her arm in Ginny’s, a solid presence at her side.

“I can walk on my own,” Ginny said, defensively. 

“Well, I can’t. I’ve nearly rolled my ankle a dozen times already,” Pansy replied. “So I’ll be taking you down with me if I go down.”

Ginny huffed a laugh, daring a glance at the other woman. Large clumps of white snow dotted her black hair and wool coat; her cheeks were tinged pink from the cold. Ginny watched as a large flake settled on the tip of her slightly upturned nose, and she felt a soft smile spread on her face. 

Pansy puffed out a breath to knock the flake off, but it just melted. Before she could stop herself, Ginny reached over with a gloved hand and wiped it off with her thumb. 

Pansy came to a stop and looked at Ginny with large eyes. “Oh.”

Ginny’s stomach swooped. “Sorry—I just…” Before she could finish her jumbled thought, a fur-lined glove was at her cheek.

Ginny stilled. They were so close. She could see little droplets of melted snow on Pansy’s lashes, adding a sparkle to her already bright hazel eyes. Ginny stared in fascination, mesmerised by the kaleidoscope of colours—golds and browns and little flecks of blues and greens. It hit her at once that she was staring but also that Pansy didn’t seem to mind, looking back just as intently. 

With that thought giving her confidence, giving her hope that she hadn’t dared before that moment, she leaned forward and was met by soft lips, a small breath of air between parted lips. 

Ginny’s eyes slid shut as she deepened the kiss, parting her mouth, exploring tentatively. She pushed through any remaining hesitation and placed her hands on the woman’s hips, pulling her closer, feeling the dampness from the melted snow between them, the many layers of clothing. Pansy’s hand dropped to Ginny’s neck, holding her tight.

After some time, they both slowly pulled back. Ginny couldn’t tear her eyes from her face, breathless from how beautiful she was. 

Pansy was the first to move, bringing her gloved hand back up to the side of Ginny’s face with a slow smile spreading over her face. 

“Well, this holiday is looking up,” Pansy said, after a beat. “Here I was thinking I was going to be bored out of my mind.”

Ginny huffed a laugh, but couldn’t help feeling a twist at her gut at the phrasing. Just a holiday fling, then.

Pansy put her arm back through Ginny’s and started toward the village. “Let’s go, Weasley, I’m freezing and our first date is well overdue. Might as well make it extra romantic in a snowy mountain town so we’ll have a glorious story to tell in years to come.”

A laugh startled out of Ginny as she looked over at the other women incredulously. “Years to come?” she asked, hearing the hopeful tone in her voice. 

Pansy leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Come on, let’s get a ridiculously overpriced lunch.”

Ginny smiled and slipped her arm out of Pansy’s grasp and around her waist, her heart soaring.

The year was looking up, come what may.


End file.
